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To repair or replace hog buildings

The Minnesota Pork Board hosted a pork lenders meeting Tuesday in Mankato and talked about the dilemmas some producers are facing with their buildings.

 Executive Director David Preisler says for some aging facilities, the farmer may have a tough decision to make.

“As we look at the buildings built in the last 20-25 years, the manure storage, which is probably about a third of the cost of the building, is engineered to last in excess of 100 years.”

 Because of that, he tells Brownfield the top of the building may wear out but it may not be smart to walk away from the investment on the manure storage side.

“That’s why just having a good, disciplined discussion.  We may have a building that’s getting worn out, but it probably in many cases, is going to make a ton of sense to go ahead and gut the building and start over.”

 Preisler says factors like the price of cement and the time it takes to get new permits may also lead producers to repair buildings as opposed to replace them.